We know honey as a sweet and viscous fluid produced by honey bees (and some other species of bee), and derived from the nectar of flowers. This wonderfully rich golden liquid is the miraculous product of honey bees and a naturally delicious alternative to white sugar. In addition to its reputation as nature’s nutritive sweetener, research also indicates that honey’s unique composition makes it useful as an antimicrobial agent and antioxidant.

The process of making honey happens when the bees feast on flowers, collecting the flower nectar in their mouths. This nectar then mixes with special enzymes in the bees’ saliva, an alchemical process that turns it into honey. The bees carry the honey back to the hive, where they deposit it into the cells of the hive’s walls. The fluttering of their wings provides the necessary ventilation to reduce the honey’s moisture content, making it ready for consumption.

The Benefit of Honey

Improve Athletic Performance and Heal Wounds with Honey. Primarily honey has been used as an energy source, but recent research has examined the use of honey as an ergogenic aid (a food or ingredient that helps an athlete’s performance) and wound healing agent, both of which were once considered merely age-old anecdotes, because in the time of the ancient Olympics, athletes were reported to eat special foods, such as honey and dried figs, to enhance their sports performance. The wound healing properties of honey may, however, be its most promising medicinal quality. Honey has been used topically as an antiseptic therapeutic agent for the treatment of ulcers, burns and wounds for centuries.

Reduce the cholesterol in the blood. By mixing 2 spoons of honey with 3 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and 16 ounce of tea into a potion, can decrease the amount of cholesterol in the blood up to 10% in two hours. The pure honey that is consumed daily can reduce the cholesterol effect to your body.

Prevent heart attack. Spread some honey and ground cinnamon on your bread every breakfast. It will reduce the cholesterol in your blood and prevent the risk of heart attack. Even people who had had heart attack before, if they consumed honey and cinnamon everyday, it will prevent them from the second attack.

In many occasions, we often hear that there are the “original” and the “unoriginal” honey. Actually, there is no such thing as the “original” and “unoriginal” honey. All honey is original, because it is only produced by the bees. So, there are only honey with good or high quality, and honey with bad or low quality.

It is very difficult sensory to be able to find out whether the honey sold in the market has high or low quality. It has to be tested in the laboratory. But don’t worry, so you will not be tricked in buying honey, there are some characteristics that define the quality of honey.

Honey with fine quality usually has a very high level of viscosity. It must not also have foams, because it shows that the honey has experienced the fermentation process which made the quality turn poor.

The people’s perception to test the quality of honey by filling it in a bottle, then if the bottle explode it means good honey, is also a mistake. Testing honey by using ants also can’t be trusted.

Raw honey that has not been pasteurized, clarified, or filtered – provided it is of the highest organic quality – is your best choice. Look for honey that states “100% pure.” While regular honey is translucent, creamy honey is usually opaque and is made by adding finely crystallized honey back into liquid honey. Specialty honeys, made from the nectar of different flowers, such as thyme and lavender, are also available. Remember that the darker the color, the deeper the flavor. You might also look for darker-colored “honeydew” varieties produced by bees that collect the sugary secretions insects leave on plants, which is called honeydew.

So when are you going to start consuming honey?

]]>https://priuk.wordpress.com/2008/09/28/the-wonders-of-honey/feed/0priukHoneyWhy Milk? Got Milk?https://priuk.wordpress.com/2008/09/28/why-milk-got-milk/
https://priuk.wordpress.com/2008/09/28/why-milk-got-milk/#respondSun, 28 Sep 2008 01:13:19 +0000http://priuk.wordpress.com/?p=70]]>Got Milk? I believe this statement must sound familiar to you. Do you drink Milk? Drink it daily? If you did, you ought to be happy, meanwhile for you who is not, you need to. Milk, especially cow’s Milk, offer to you lots of benefit. Do you know what’s the different between UHT, Pasteurized and Fresh Cow Milk?

UHT and Pasteurized, these are the terms for “Milk Sterilization” process. The difference between these two processes lies on the duration and level of heat use to sterilize the Milk.

Pasteurization takes a shorter period of time before cooling the milk for storage and transportation. All pasteurized milk need to be kept in cold places. Milk goes through this process has a shorter life span before it goes bad.

UHT stands for Ultra High Temperature, this sterilization makes the milk’s life span longer than the previous process. Milk using UHT sterilization process doesn’t need to be refrigerated.

Fresh Cow Milk may offer to you more benefit if you can make sure that the milk comes from Cow that is maintained in a very sanitary condition.

1 cup of 250ml of 2%-fat milk contains 285 mg of calcium, which represents 22% to 29% of the daily-recommended intake of calcium for an adult, 8 grams of protein and a number of other nutrients as follow:

– Vitamin D and K which are essential for bone health
– Iodine which is essential for thyroid function
– Vitamin B12 and Riboflavin which are necessary for cardiovascular health and energy production
– Biotin and Pantothenic acid which are B vitamins important for energy production
– Potassium and Magnesium are for cardiovascular health
– Selenium is a cancer-preventive trace mineral
– Thiamine is a B-vitamin important for cognitive function, especially memory
– Conjugated linoleic acid is a beneficial fatty acid that inhibits several types of cancer in mice, it has shown to kill human skin cancer, colorectal cancer and breast cancer.

Some people categorize this plant as vegetables, but some others categorize it as fruits. We often make juice from it, but it is also delicious as cooking ingredients. Either way tomatoes own special benefits for human’s health. Find out more about it in the article.

Tomatoes are actually a fruit, not a vegetable because technically they are berries, with seeds, of a plant that bears fruit. However, nutritionally, popularly, and culinary use, they are categorized as a vegetable. It is said that the fruits are originally from Central, South, and southern North America from Mexico to Argentina. With Latin name Licopersicum esculentum, tomatoes are also known as the all-seasons fruit; the kind of fruit that can be found in all seasons.
Tomatoes are available in a wide variety of types, colors, shapes and sizes. Mostly they come in the colors of red, yellow, and green, but they do have variety in other colors. Tomatoes’ sizes range from about 1-2 centimeters in diameter, 4-5 centimeters in diameter, and 10 centimeters or larger. The shapes are usually round, but sometimes come in other shapes, such as the oblong shape of roma tomatoes.

NUTRIENTS AND HEALTH BENEFITS

No matter what the types or varieties are, tomatoes contain almost the same amount of nutritional substances. They are rich with vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, mineral, fiber, and phytonutrient substances. The main content of tomatoes is water (about 94%).

Tomatoes also contain antioxidant. One of the substances contained in tomatoes has been a “hot” topic to talk about. It is the lycopene. This carotenoid found in tomatoes (and products made from tomatoes) has been studied extensively for its antioxidant and cancer preventing properties. Research and studies about lycopene from tomatoes has been conducted repeatedly not only in animals but also in humans. The researches claimed that they had proven the substance can protect body from many kinds of cancers, such as prostate, colorectal, pancreatic, breasts, and lung.

However, this claim has an opposite opinion. Scientists from Food and Drug Administration in United States of America proclaimed that presumption of the lycopene from tomatoes can prevent cancers must be straightened. There is no strong evidence that foods or other intakes contain lycopene, which also the substance responsible for giving the red color to the fruits will reduce the risk of getting exposed to many kinds of cancers. This finding is reported by Dr. Claudine Kavanaugh and her colleagues from The Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA, College Park, Maryland, in her paperwork that was published on the website of US Cancer institute.

This does not mean that tomatoes have no benefits at all. Related with this issue, another research suggested that there many substances contained in the fruits that can give health benefits for humans, not only the lycopene, for example, the vitamin A and vitamin C found in tomatoes. Public must have aware with the benefits this two vitamins can provide to our health. Tomatoes also contain fiber. Many sources stated how fiber has been shown to reduce high cholesterol levels, keep blood sugar levels stable, and help prevent colon cancer.

One research done and led by Dr. Howard Sesso found tomatoes’ cardiovascular benefits. The result of Dr. Sesso’s research was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The research found that women highest intake of lycopene-rich-tomato-based foods had significantly reduced the risk of heart disease.

Tomato juice can reduce the tendency of blood clotting. This is claimed by Australian research. In the study, twenty people suffer from type 2 diabetes were given 250 ml of tomato juiced or a tomato-flavored therapy daily. The people who were subjects of the study had no history of clotting problems and did not take any medications that would affect blood clotting ability. After 3 weeks, the clumping together of blood cells (platelet aggregation) was significantly reduced among those drinking real tomato juice. However those who received the tomato-flavored therapy were not affected at all.

Tomato seeds are also very useful. One research conducted in Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen, Scotland found the benefits of tomatoes seeds for health. As quoted by a health magazine, Prevention, Asim K. Dutta-Roy, the researcher found that the slippery layer in the form of yellow mucous around the tomato seeds actually contain a very effective compound to fight stroke and heart disease. Dutta-Roy said, if we regularly drink tomato juice without throwing the seeds away, then we have reduced around 72% of the risk of blood clotting, which is one of the causes of heart-attack.

Tomatoes are also good for the skin. Researchers from University of Manchester and University of Newcastle discovered that adding five spoons of tomato pasta to the daily diet of 10 volunteers can help preventing skin damage by giving protection against the affect of ultra-violet ray. The damage affected by ultra-violet ray can cause early aging, and even skin cancer.

So, start consuming tomatoes regularly from now on. However, once again keep it moderately, not too much. Anything that too much will not give good affect, don’t you agree?

Who does not know durian. It is a unique fruit with the sweet unique taste and odor. Because of the strong odor, many people do not like this fruit, but quite a lot of them love it. However, durian is also a pretty “controversial” fruit. We must all have heard the myth that eating durian can cause a stroke, especially for people suffering with high blood pressure. What is the truth about this common belief? Let’s figure it out in the article.

Durian (Surio zibenthinus Murr) is one of plants that grows on the tropical areas. The name “durian” was assumed coming from a Malay term “duri” (means thorn) and given the word “an” as the suffix, so it became “durian”. The word has come to the meaning of a fruit whose skin is filled with sharp thorns.

Durian is widely known in Southeast Asia as the King of Fruits. It is known to have been consumed since prehistoric time in the region, but has only been known to the western world for about 600 years.

Not only consumed fresh alone, durian flesh can also be processed into many kinds of dishes. We often see ice durian, durian flavored candy, and it even processed into one of Indonesian food ingredients called tempoyak. Tempoyak is some kind of paste made from durian flesh that has been salted and left for a few days before it is ready to be cooked.

THE NUTRIENTS IN DURIAN

We have assumed that durian is quite a fatty fruit. It turned out that the fruit contains only 3% of fat. Even the content of fat inside avocado is about twice of it, around 6.5%. Durian also contains high amount of sugar, vitamin C, potassium, and the serotoninergic amino acid tryptophan. It is also a ggod source of carbohydrates, and proteins. The content of phosphor and iron inside the fruit are about 10 times of the same substances contained in bananas.

From the strong odor many believe that durian contained alcohol. Is it true? Several studies about the case did find alcohol, such as ethanol and methanol inside the fruit but the compound is known to be unstable, can easily evaporate and disappear. There are some people who hastily associate the strong odor of durian with the amount of alcohol contained inside it. They believe that the stronger it smells, the higher the amount of alcohol inside it. However, up to this day there is still no agreement yet about the cause of the strong odor.

In 1995, Wong and Tie, in their research, had found 63 compounds that can easily evaporate (volatile compounds), including 30 esters, 5 ketones, and 16 sulfur compounds, which took the part on producing the odor of durian. But they never found any compounds of ethanol, methanol, ethyl metacrylate and other sulfur compounds, which had been mentioned by earlier researchers. From the researches can be concluded that consuming durian would not give the effect of intoxicated, unlike consuming liquors.

There is also a belief that consuming durian can make your body feel warm or sometimes hot. This actually depends on how many durians a person consumes. Durian does produce pretty high amount of calories; 100 grams of durian flesh produces about 124-18805 calories. So, it is not a surprise if you consume durian in quite high amount, for example 300 grams, the calorie it produces can reach up to 500. This obviously will make the body feel warm or even hot. This fact has made many people believe that durian can also function as an aphrodisiac fruit.

What about the belief among people that durian can be lethal for people with high-blood pressure and a bad heart condition? The truth is, up to this day, there is still no scientific proof published claimed what substances contained in durian that can cause the stroke or heart attack. It is actually not the durian that causes the illnesses, but how many it is being consumed. Dr. Santoso Karo-Karo, SpJP, a cardiologist from RS Harapan Kita said that he had never forbid his patients from eating durians, as long as they eat it moderately, not too much.

So, once again, the key of consuming any food is moderation. Never consume anything more than we should. This obviously also works with durians. However, we left all the decision to you. We are not here to suggest you to consume durian. In the end, it is you and your doctor who know what’s is the best food for you to maintain your health.

Priukers, on July 2008 Indonesian Chef Association (ICA) has appointed a new president of the organization. Yes, he is Henry Alexie Bloem, or we all know him more as Chef Bloem. We have a little questions and answers session with Chef Bloem about this issue. Here is the report

On July 2008 Chef Henry Alexie Bloem is officially holding the position as the new President of Indonesian Chef Association (ICA) for the period of 2008-2012. He was appointed to take the position due to the resignation of ICA President for the period of 2007-2012.

Asked about his feeling toward the new position Chef Bloem said he feels nothing special about it. It is because he has been in the culinary industry for more than 20 years now. And he was the Vice President of Bali Culinary Professional (BCP) in 2002-2005. Moreover, from 2003 up to 2007, he became the President of IJUMPI (Ikatan Juru Masak Profesional), an organization for professional cooks, in Bali. Chef Bloem was also chosen as the Vice President of ICA for period of 2007-2012. This is mostly why he had to take the presidential seat. Due to the rapid activities of ICA’s President 2007-2012, he had resigned from the job and handed over the task in ICA completely to the Vice President. So, automatically Chef Bloem will carry on the task of ICA leadership starting from July 2008 until 2012.

So, a presidential position is not something new for Chef Bloem. This is why he does not feel anything special about it. On the other hand, Chef Bloem thinks that this is going to be one great challenge with more difficult tasks for him in the future.

When asked about his mission as the President of ICA, Chef Bloem answered that the missions of the association come first. He will try to equate the profession of chefs or cooks in Indonesia like any other professions, such as doctor, lawyer, and more. The other mission is to promote the dignity and prestige of Indonesian chefs/ cooks, so they will be more appreciated nationally and internationally so that Indonesian chefs can compete professionally along with chefs from foreign countries, who work in Indonesia. This is because everyday, the more foreign chefs come and work in Indonesia and become quite a competition for the local chefs. With ICA, Chef Bloem would like to conserve the Indonesian culinary culture, especially Indonesian traditional recipes so that Indonesian traditional foods will be known widely in national and international level.

Chef Bloem stated that cooking is a very crucial profession in the Indonesian tourism industry. For him, a chef/ cook is an artist who doing his job by “pouring” his creation, feeling, and experience, to create tasteful cuisines. This is why ICA try to unite Indonesian chefs, not only the ones that currently live and work in Indonesia, but also those who live and work abroad. Hopefully all of them will gather themselves in the organization, for the development of the Chef profession in the country, to be able to compete internationally.

Chef Bloem, currently is also busied with his new restaurant, which was just opened last May, Bloem’s The Waroeng, located at Jimbaran – Bali. After resigning from the hotel where he worked as the Executive Chef, he automatically runs The Waroeng himself. Other than that he was trusted to be a consultant for several restaurants and villas in Bali.

Back to The Waroeng, Chef Bloem shared the story about the favorite menus the restaurant offers. The Waroeng serves various cuisines, from Asian to Western specialties. For the Indonesia foods, he specifically highlighted on Sop Buntut (Oxtail Soup), and Nasi Goreng Djenggo. While for the Western, he suggested Goulash Soup, Barbeque Pork Spare Ribs, and Tenderloin Steak. Chef Bloem stated that even though The Waroeng uses local meat, but the tenderness can be compared with imported products.

When asked about whether he has thought to expand his restaurant business outside Bali, Chef Bloem said that he still has not thought about the idea. He is still working on creating a trade mark for The Waroeng. Perhaps, after The Waroeng is widely known, he will think about opening branches outside the island.

Priuk.Com Team and all Priukers would like to congratulate Chef Henry Alexie Bloem for his new position as the President of Indonesian Chef Association for the period of 2008-2012. We all hope with his leadership, the world of Indonesian culinary and chefs will be more recognized through out the world.

What do you eat everyday? Do you eat enough vegetables and fruits? Do you get enough protein and other nutrition? Do you eat the right kind of food for your diet? If you answer ‘yes’ for all these questions, you might think that you are healthy enough and you have given your body all the best, but actually that is not enough, my friends. Nowadays, we need also to consider the source of the food. Are they bringing dangerous pesticides or any chemicals inside? We can only guarantee that it is safe if it is organic food.

What is organic?

Organic usually refers to all “naturally produced” foods or the product of organic farming. Organic food differs from conventionally produced food in the way it is grown, handled, and processed.
Organic usually refers to the raising of farm produce (fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy products) without the use of chemical or other synthetic herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers, (synthetic or sewer-sludge); livestock raised with the use of growth hormones, or antibiotics; food processed without ionizing radiation or food additives; nor can genetically modified seed be utilized.

The terms “natural” and organic are not interchangeable. Other truthful claims, such as free-range, hormone-free, and natural, can appear on food labels. However, don’t confuse these terms with “organic.”

Why choose organic?

Here are some reasons for you to “go organic”:

Organic food is not treated with any chemicals during the planting and growth of the item. Therefore, if you eat organic foods, you are not exposed to what could be a toxic cocktail of pesticides and fertilizers.

Fresh organic produce has more vitamins, minerals, enzymes and other micro-nutrients than farmed produce. Studies show that organic food contains between 50 and 100% more minerals and 25% more fiber.

Choosing organic foods is the only way you can avoid eating genetically modified food.

Choosing organic dairy or meat products ensures that the antibiotics, growth promoting drugs, anti-parasite drugs and many other medicines fed to the animals will not be passed on into your food.

Organic produce often tastes so much better than farm produced vegetables and fruit. It’s full of flavors!

Organic farmers often protect wildlife in their areas by not using harmful pesticides or herbicides and look for ways to protect their crops without harming wildlife and the environment.

Conventional farming can damage workers’ health as they are exposed to the toxins in the pesticides and herbicides and fertilizers.

Bali doesn’t only have the beauty of tourism; it also has culinary richness that we must try. Bali traditional foods are united in daily life of Balinese because they serve these foods in ritual ceremony. This makes the foods are so unique.

Real Balinese food is not readily available to tourists unless a Balinese family invites the tourist to a meal or he goes to a temple. Restaurants catering for tourists do not serve authentic Balinese dishes, nor do hotels. The reason is that there is too much preparation, large quantities have to be prepared and it has to be eaten when it is fresh. It is often spicy and very tasty.

Bali has a number of rules concerning food, drink and behavior. Cake is always served with coffee or tea, nuts and krupuk with rice wine, and tea, water or tuak with the meal. The host does not usually eat with guests. Besides, they eat with their right hand, as the left is impure.
Famous Balinese dishes are lawar, babi guling, bebek betutu, and rujak. Lawar traditionally cooked by men, who chop up strips of turtle or mango or coconut, add various spices and mix it with uncooked blood, so that it is red.

Babi Guling (roast suckling pig) is a great favorite amongst the Balinese, although the pigs are usually too old to be suckling, they are stuffed with spices, impaled on a wooden pole and turned over a fire of coconut husks and wood for one or two hours. Bebek Betutu is duck stuffed with spices and vegetables, wrapped in a banana leaf, and cooked for three or four hours. Rujak is a refreshing sweet and sour salad containing unripe fruit such as mango or papaya, mixed with sugar, chilly and salt.

Types of desserts that Balinese have are Black Rice Pudding and Jaja. Black rice pudding is also known as tofu: soy bean curd. Jaja is crunchy shelled soy beans that have been mixed with a special strain of yeast to form a small flat cake, which are then fried – it tastes a bit nutty.

Beside foods, Balinese also have traditional drinks like Tuak, Arak, and Brem. Tuak is made by cutting the undeveloped flower of either the coconut or the sugar palm tree. You then collect the sugary liquid that exudes into a bamboo container and ferment it. Arak is distilled tuak. It has a much higher alcoholic content and is colourless. It has a very sharp, biting taste. Since there is no fermentation, it can be bottled and sold. As the taste is unpleasant, the Balinese mix it with spices. It can also be added to coffee or mixed with brem. Brem, pronounced “brum”, is rice wine. It is a pleasant drink and can be drunk neat, over ice or mixed with arak. It is sweet and is made from glutinous rice or sticky rice. The rice is cooked for hours. Yeast is added. It is then allowed to ferment for three days, at which point the brem drains into a pan.

Those are things about Bali culinary you should try. For you who are Muslim, you need to be careful for your choice of food because many kinds of it contain prohibited ingredients for you. You may just say “halal” every time you order food. Interested to try?

What kind of water do you drink everyday? Are you sure that it is the best for your health? Lets check it out.

In this article, you’ll be informed about kinds of water to consume. There are many kinds of water based on the source and the making process. Different kinds of water have surprising facts about their positives and negatives. What is the best kind of water to drink actually? To answer this question, we’ll go deeper by discussing the most common types of water to drink.

DISTILLED WATER

Distilled water is water that has all of its impurities removed through distillation. Distillation involves boiling the water and then condensing the steam into a clean container, leaving most if not all solid contaminants behind. You lose a primary source of necessary minerals in your diet, and further, because the water has lost its own minerals; it attracts and grabs minerals within your body, causing a mineral deficit. Besides, it should be stored carefully. No container is completely inert. Because of its’ “aggressiveness,” distilled water will combine with some of whatever the container is made of. Glass is the most inert material for containers, and therefore the safest. Though distilled water is routinely sold in plastic bottles, there is a tendency for the plastic to enter the water over a period of time.

TAP WATER

Tap water (running water) is part of indoor plumbing. In Indonesia, tap water is not clean enough to drink. It has to be boiled at home. In many areas, fluoride is added to the tap water as a means to improve public dental health. Besides, tap water may contain Calcium, Magnesium, and Sodium and may provide clinically important portions of the recommended dietary intake of these minerals. But boiling it may not remove unessential minerals or ions in it although it might kill bacteria.

MINERAL WATER

Mineral water is water containing minerals or other dissolved substances that alter its taste or give it therapeutic value. Salts, sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that can be dissolved in the water. Mineral water can often be effervescent. Mineral water can be prepared or can occur naturally. In our country, it is far more common for mineral waters to be bottled at source for distributed consumption. A spring is a point where groundwater flows out of the ground, and is thus where the aquifer surface meets the ground surface. Minerals become dissolved in the water as it moves through the underground rocks. This may give the water flavor and even carbon dioxide bubbles. This is why spring water is often bottled and sold as mineral water, although the term is often the subject of deceptive advertising.

Is it safe to consumed bottled mineral or spring water? The answer is surprisingly, no. If you pay attention to the way they distribute the bottled or plastic packaged water, you will be agree that it is not safe. Along the distribution (on trucks), it is exposed to sun which will support the growth of bacteria inside. Besides, don’t forget that plastics, the packaging material that it uses, can be dissolved with water.

So, what is the safest water to drink? Based on the pros and contras above, it is better for you to drink tap water filtered by water treatment device. There are many kinds of water treatment device in market. A good water treatment device will sterilize the water, eliminate dangerous element, and kill bacteria in the water. As having it in your place, you can drink the water directly after it comes out from the device. So it is surely fresh.

]]>https://priuk.wordpress.com/2008/09/19/the-best-water-to-drink/feed/0priuk89Hello Food Lovershttps://priuk.wordpress.com/2008/09/19/hello-world/
https://priuk.wordpress.com/2008/09/19/hello-world/#respondFri, 19 Sep 2008 05:22:51 +0000]]>Priuk.com is a Food Lover Community. Our Website Priuk.com has articles about Indonesian Cuisine and Indonesia Hang Out Place. Priuk.com also has its own Forum to share Experience and Knowledge about anything among its Member. In our Forum, Priukers (Member) can ask question to Expert like Chef, F&B Consultant, Expert Photographer and Many More for Free.

In this Web Blog, we feed readers with Culinary Articles. We will talk about Health, Indonesia Traditional Food, Extreme Culiner, Indonesian Traditional Recipe , Hang out Places in Indonesia and Also Indonesian Well Known Chef.